What kind of job offers from Canadian employers are valid?

Canada’s Express Entry system is the main immigration pathway for foreign workers, but

it is only open to “skilled” occupations. In this article, we will help you understand what is considered to be a “skilled” occupation, what makes a “valid job offer,” and how to help your new employees to become permanent residents.
Express Entry only recognizes occupations in three of these skill levels: 0, which are management positions; A, jobs that require a university degree; and B, technical jobs and skilled trades that may require college or apprenticeship training. If you are hiring for a NOC C or D occupation you will have to use a different immigration program.
Keep in mind, NOC skill level classifications will change in late 2022. There have been no official details released on which occupations will become eligible for Express Entry, and which ones will become ineligible. The changes will not affect the immigrant-hiring process.
Most employers need an LMIA
Oftentimes, the first step to hiring an immigrant is to demonstrate to the federal government that there is no Canadian available to fill the open position.
To do this, you need a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) from Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC). There is usually an advertising requirement for the LMIA, which means you have to post your job on the Government of Canada’s Job Bank and advertise in two other places.
Once you have done the advertising requirement, you can apply for the LMIA. If ESDC agrees you need to hire a foreign worker because no Canadian is available, you will get a positive LMIA.

You can use the positive LMIA to help your employee get more points in the Express Entry system. While the LMIA helps your employee get points for their job offer, it is not necessarily a requirement. The more points they have, the more likely they are to be invited to apply for Canadian immigration. It is possible for employees to apply on their own without their employer’s backing.
They do not need a job offer to create an Express Entry profile, but having a valid job offer can score them some extra points. They can get 50 points for having a valid job offer in an NOC 0, A, or B occupation. It is rare, but if their NOC code starts with 00 they can get 200 points for that job offer.
A valid job offer has to be full-time at 30 hours per week, and good for at least one year after the employee gets their permanent residency visa.
The only way they can get the points for the job offer without an LMIA is if they have an employer-specific, LMIA-exempt work permit. That means, if you hired them and did not do the LMIA process because they had an open work permit (Post-Graduation Work Permit, for example), you will need to get an LMIA so that they can receive the points.
To recap, to hire an Express Entry candidate with a valid job offer, employers need to:
get a positive LMIA, if you need one, and;
offer a full-time, LMIA-supported job to the candidate in writing that is ongoing for at least one year after they get permanent residency.
Who does not need an LMIA?
You do not need an LMIA if:
you already did it when you originally hired the foreign worker and you want to extend their job offer for at least one more year so they can get a permanent residency visa;
your employee has worked for you for full-time for one year (or the equivalent part-time) in Canada and they have a valid work permit that was exempt from an LMIA under an international agreement like CUSMA, or the work permit falls under the International Mobility Program, such as a federal-provincial trade agreement, or is considered a significant benefit to Canadian interest.

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